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Internet Harassment on Flickr

The Internet connects billions of people across the world, allowing people in different countries to share pictures, ideas, and friendships, all while remaining somewhat anonymous. The privacy offered by the Internet has its advantages, but it can also pose serious disadvantages to people who are being stalked or harassed online. Individuals often do not have the ability to determine the identity of an Internet harasser on their own, which is where private investigators come in.

Summary

The Internet connects billions of people across the world, allowing people in different countries to share pictures, ideas, and friendships, all while remaining somewhat anonymous. The privacy offered by the Internet has its advantages, but it can also pose serious disadvantages to people who are being stalked or harassed online. Individuals often do not have the ability to determine the identity of an Internet harasser on their own, which is where private investigators come in.

ICS recently solved a particularly challenging case involving Internet harassment, in which a woman was being harassed on Flickr, a popular photography sharing website, by an anonymous individual. The individual who was harassing the client had been following the client on Flickr for over two years without incident, but had suddenly began posting slanderous and inappropriate comments about the woman. The woman believed that the harassment had started as retaliation to a political opinion she had stated on a different social networking site. The woman hoped to find out the real identity of the individual harassing her, in order to approach the person and talk out their differences.

Conclusion:

Once hired by the woman, ICS began investigating the activity and accounts owned by the individual who had been posting the slanderous material online. Little was known about the subject of the investigation, other than that the person lived on a ranch somewhere where the weather was extremely cold.

ICS investigators reviewed relevant information on the subject’s posts on a variety of different social networking websites to gain a deeper understanding of the subject and their whereabouts. Private investigators from ICS discovered that the subject owned a herd of cattle that are relatively rare on the North American continent.

With this pertinent information, ICS was able to contact the Society of Owners for this breed of cattle and obtain a list of the names of every registered owner. Because the cattle were so rare in North America, the list was only 50 names long, giving ICS a solid lead to follow through on. Using word association and word usage, ICS private investigators discovered that the subject lived in a particular province in Canada. This narrowed the list of 50 names down to six. One of the names on the list of six matched the user name of the subject. With this information, ICS was able to provide the client with the physical address of the farm in Canada. The information gained by ICS throughout the course of the investigation was reported to the client in an efficient and confidential manner.

What to do Next:

Internet harassment cases can be frustrating and scary, and can take all the enjoyment out of social networking and photo sharing websites like Flickr. A private investigation by ICS can locate the source of harassment and provide you with the information you need in order to move forward and put an end to bothersome Internet interactions. If you are in a similar situation as this client was, please call ICS today to begin your free consultation, Toll Free at (800) 828-9198, or submit an online consultation form right on this website. Take the first step towards ending Internet harassment and reclaiming your Internet space.

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ICS or International Counterintelligence Services refers to one or more of the associations, companies, or affiliates operating under the ICS or International Counterintelligence Services trade name. Each ICS company is independently owned and operated. Each ICS company is individually responsible for providing client services and for any errors and omissions therefrom.